1832.] Taxes on Knowledge. 497 



most mischievous of these taxes the duty on newspapers and advertise- 

 ments been respectively reduced from 3d. to Id., and from 3s. 6d. to Is., 

 without any increase taking place in the circulation of newspapers, or the 

 number of advertisements, the loss to the revenue would have been some 

 450, OOO/., or 32,000/. less than the candle tax produced. Had the duty 

 on newspapers, advertisements, pamphlets, and almanacks, been totally 

 repealed, the loss to the revenue would not have been one third of the 

 sum actually remitted. These remissions, too, were final, leaving practi- 

 cally no point for the revenue to fall back upon. The consumption of 

 coals and candles might indefinitely increase without producing any 

 benefit to the public income worth speaking of. But had the duties on 

 newspapers, &c. been repealed, the revenue would have had another 

 source of supply in the increased produce of the tax upon paper and 

 pasteboard, consequent upon the increased consumption of books, both 

 great and litcle. 



The remission of the newspaper and advertisement duties was not, 

 however, asked for 5 and it may be questioned whether any reduction 

 (excepting the one talked of by Lord Althorpe) would not rather increase 

 than diminish the revenue. Even in commodities where appetite is less 

 likely to grow by what it feeds on, this result invariably follows a bold 

 reduction. The duty on coffee was lowered from 2s. to 6d. per pound. ; 

 the consumption immediately increased ninefold ; and the produce of the 

 duty was more than double. The tax on Irish spirits was reduced from 

 5s. to 2s. a gallon ; and, again, the produce of the duty was more than 

 doubled. To come to points more germane to the question. Three or 

 four thousand was deemed an extraordinary circulation for a volume of 

 Lord Byron's poetry, at 14s. or 15s. The price is reduced to 5s. ; the 

 circulation is quintupled. In England, with a duty of 3s. 6cL, the num- 

 ber of advertisements is about one million per annum. In America, with 

 no duty, it is ten millions per annum. In England, with a duty of one 

 hundred per cent., daily journals are confined to the metropolis, In 

 America almost every town of 8000 or 10,000 inhabitants has its daily 

 paper. With all these facts before us, and there are many others equally 

 conclusive, though not perhaps so striking, it seems clear, that a duty of 



Of these taxes the coal duty was most, properly remitted. Owing, however, to 

 the mode in which it was effected, the public reaped little advantage from it for 

 nine months, whilst the revenue lost about 700,000/. (It may be questioned whether 

 the prohibition of using inland carried coals in London must not be removed before 

 the effects of the monopoly can be put an end to, and the public be supplied with 

 fuel at the cheapest rate for which it can be produced.) The drawback on printed 

 goods created much practical inconvenience and expense ; but why select the candle 

 tax ? It is only about one half the year that the article is necessary to the poor ; 

 the consumption of the commodity is not likely to be much increased by its cheap- 

 ness ; the duty only added some fifteen per cent, to the cost of the article, and it 

 was almost the only one where any distinction was made between rich and poor, 

 the duty on tallow candles being Id. per lb., on wax 2^d. There was also a prac- 

 tical objection to its repeal at present. The principal raw material used .in the 

 manufacture of soap is the same as that used for the making of candles. Whilst 

 each manufacturer was under the surveillance of the excise officer a candlemaker 

 could not engage in an illicit trade without the prospect of immediate detection. 

 At present this check is removed, and the soapmakers say that they are fighting at 

 odds, and that smuggling is more extensively carried on than it was before. The 

 duty on soap is upwards of one hundred per cent. 



